I was wondering why it didn’t have a shift knob. But I must be missing something, since I think that, if someone is determined enough to steel a car off an autoshow floor and somehow get it out into the streets, he’s probably not going to go, “Oops, no knob, guess that foils my crazed, mega-bonzai plan.”

I’ve generally found that the newest Subarus make me yearn for the previous generation. Except for the bug-eyes (yeah I never really liked those), and the current design. The 2011’s are growing on me, much more than the sneering smiles I see on the WRXs right now.

While it’s not my cup of tea, it is at least a return to the traditional look of the STi. The seats are a welcome change to the ever expanding lard-butt furniture that Subaru seems to fit to their other vehicles.

From the outside, these bear only a passing resemblance to my good old 2000 Impreza RS. But the interior… holy smokes, it’s still pretty ugly in there. At least they got rid of the cupholder on the dash.

I always thought I’d replace my old Scooby with a new Scooby, but when I test-drove a 2010 WRX there was not enough room under the wheel to swing my knees. It totally ruined the feel of the toebox and made heel-toe shifting impossible. Hopefully I just had it all set up wrong.

This was probably the one car I was most excited to take pictures of – a sedan STi again! Excitement. The flared fenders are much more pronounced, giving the car a bit of a cartoonish look (and that’s saying a lot since the WRX has been cartoony from the start!). The front “WRX” badge sort of makes the “STi” badge feel a little… less special, but the windshield wiper heat elements do make up for that.

It’s sad though, that the WRX doesn’t have much “rally cred” anymore- it figures though: ask the representatives at their booth and prepare to be disappointed with their “extensive knowledge” of the motorsport history.

Racing cred is overrated anyway. I don’t think you can even buy an AWD Citroen, Peugeot, or Ford that’s close to their rally cars.

Outside of broad technologies, it’s not like there’s ever a direct trickle from modern racing cars to the street cars anyway.

The whole “rally bred” thing from Subaru is the same marketing BS as the whole “917 DNA” thing that Porsche tries to push. The racing cars are tube-frame racing cars with a plastic shell. The street cars are, uh, not.

May I ask what those redeeming Japanese qualities are, given your bald faced opinion, stated as fact?

When you have owned an Impreza for 10 winters in Nova Scotia, without even having to change the battery, and a total of $760 in repair outside of regular maintemance, as I have, ridiculous statements about Subaru have to be challenged.

What a laugh! My 2002 has been disassembled and reassembled almost in its mechanical entirety and the only time, the one time, this car has ever left me stranded was my fault…and ending up being a $10 fix. This car has been flogged and beaten on since new and continues to run just fine. The 2007 and 2008s have some problems with lean conditions and ring failures, but I haven’t known anyone who has had to rebuild their STi 6MT (or plain old standard 5MT) that wasn’t beating the car up or making obscene power. I can’t speak for the hatchback generations, but my STi drivetrain was pulled from a version 7 STi in Japan and has been nothing but fantastic for well over three years. From what I have seen on NASIOC over the years, that the cars are built tough and a blast to own seems to be the general consensus amongst long term owners.

The red is hideous, the new/old blue is lovely and thank the gods for a non-hatch STi option. Unfortunately, I’m out of the market for a while…just jumped into a G37S 6MT, but I would have been happy to put one of these blue sedans in my garage next to my trusty old WRX.

I have zero issues with my 05 (only 34k miles however). The Blue sedan looks fantastic. I like the looks better than my current one…but that isn’t going to make me go out & buy a new one. Subaru really has done a fantastic job over the years in design. Have loved the looks since I bought it, but these new ones DEFINITELY look better..

Wow, the sedan STi is horrible looking. I own a GR series STi wagon and am SO thankful I didn’t wait for the sedan. Looks like the transformers movie collided with a Mitsubishi and was smoothed back out by a Kia prototype designer.

Yeah, gotta disagree with the sedan lovers here. It looks no better than someone ricing his Civic to the extreme. Big fugly wing in the back, unnecessary quad tailpipes, and ground effects only it’s creator could love. To be honest, the hatchback doesn’t look much better, but the shape is much less jarring.

I thought that a WRX hatch would be a decent upgrade from my current car, should it get totaled or stolen, but it looks like, if I did upgrade, I can’t look at anything newer then the 2010 model, as the steroidal fenders have now found their way onto the lesser WRX from the STi and have ruined what was once an aggressive yet clean design.